The outer darkness in Matthew is NOT a reference to hell, but is instead a way of describing the profound shame and regret that some Christians will experience when Jesus returns physically to this earth. Rather than celebrate in the Wedding Feast of the Lamb, some Christians will be in the darkness outside the party. This article explains more.

This study is pulled from my book, What is Hell? This study shows that Gehenna was an actual place that existed in the days of Jesus (and still exists today), and so when we understand what Gehenna was, we better understand what Jesus was teaching when He warned people about going to Gehenna.

The word sheol occurs sixty-six times in the Hebrew Scriptures, and a few of these are occasionally translated as “hell” depending on which Bible translation you are reading. Yet “hell” is not a good translation of any of the occurrences of sheol in the Bible.